


The Same Moon

by midoritakamine



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: (It's Eichi), Heavily Implied Character Death, M/M, Post-Canon, Reflection after death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 15:23:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10619724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoritakamine/pseuds/midoritakamine
Summary: Nothing good comes of waking the dead. Then again, Eichi never would have went to sleep so easily.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyyy it's my first ever commission and I'm so happy I got to write this idea which has been in mind for like a year. Going back to Enstars is wild after such an absence,,,,,,,  
> Who's ready to fucking die over Tsukasa's new gacha 4*? I'm gonna scout as soon as he's out and die.

“‘I always want to gaze up at the same moon as you.’ It’s such a silly, sweet sentiment, isn’t it?” Keito glances up from the book in his lap and blinks a few times to clearly focus. Behind a skinny, pale hand, Eichi covers a chuckle. His eyes lid a fraction and he glances out of the window where the sky turns a fiery shade of orange and the leaves rustle with a gust of wind. “Observing the moon with somebody sounds like quite the romantic outing, doesn’t it?”

Pursing his lips in minor annoyance at the mocking snicker (it’s always mocking with Eichi, isn’t it?), Keito sticks a bookmark in the book and sets it aside. “If you’re asking me to haul you into my arms and carry you out of the front doors of the hospital, you have me mistaken with a hooligan.”

“Isn’t that what you used to be?”

“Enough of that,” dismisses Keito quickly. There’s no need to dwell on those days. Long ago were they laid to rest alongside the destroyed hopes and dreams of their ex-classmates. Destroyed by Eichi’s orders, and _his_ own actions. Years have passed since their graduation, but the memory of his actions still leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He can’t tell if looking at Eichi worsens or lessens it, or if the twisting of his gut and sharp inhale is from how sickly he’s gotten. Maybe if the universe hates Keito enough (and God, does it seem that way), it’s both.

Nobody expected Eichi to still be here. He managed for a few years as an idol, staying in close contact with and eventually dragging Keito back into the life. His parents never taught him that with great responsibility comes great singing and dancing skills for the sake of somebody else’s happiness. Still, it wasn’t for long. They stayed a duo for three years, almost throughout college. Then Eichi got worse. The hacking coughs after rehearsals, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he smiled and insisted he’d be fine and that he almost had the final step until Keito told him to stop and lay down. That stubborn attitude stuck with Eichi until he got admitted to the hospital.

This time, the hospice wing.

Shaking his head, Keito moves to pick up his book again when cold fingers press against the side of his face. He freezes in place not from surprise, but suspicion. Weak and bedridden as he is, Eichi is still a fabulous manipulator. If he doesn’t keep his, as Koga used to put it back in the old days, hardass attitude up, Eichi can and will convince Keito to do something ridiculous. Like…

“Can we view the moon tonight, Keito?”

“Is this your attempt to ask me out, Eichi?” His voice is steady but the beating in his chest isn’t. He’s thankful for once that the one hooked up to a heart monitor isn’t him. Many times in the past has he wished to lessen Eichi’s suffering by taking his place, hoping for once that the one to collapse against the wall clutching his chest and gagging on the taste of blood would be him instead. His eyes screw shut and he inhales deeply. “If it is, you need to work on your pick up lines. I’ve heard better ones out of… what was his name?”

“Hakaze-kun?”

“Yes, him. I heard better lines out of him in the three years we shared a classroom than I’ve heard out of you the twenty-some years we’ve shared in each other’s company.” Deep in his throat he scoffs. “I’m sure you understand my grievances with your attempt at flirting.”

A cold sweat threatens to break out when Eichi traces a finger along his jawline, directing him to turn his head and look him in the eye. Too proud to look away and let Eichi win at his little flirting game, Keito holds his gaze. “I wouldn’t ask you this just to tease you, dear Keito. I, well…” A ghost of happiness flickers through his eyes and Keito wishes it was tactile so he could grab onto it and make sure Eichi never loses it. “It’s dearly important to me we view the moon this evening. Please?”

“You’re an emotionally manipulative bastard, you do know that right?”

Eichi closes his eyes and leans back into the pillows, his hand falling away from Keito’s face. Before he leans too far away, Keito grabs his hand and squeezes gently. “I’m aware. I was told many times.” With a small smile, he says, “I consider it my most useful and most atrocious trait.”

“It is quite an ugly trait, huh?” he hums, running his thumb over Eichi’s knuckles in a somewhat comforting manor. Showing so much affection is a tad embarrassing, but it is just them in the stark hospital room. Besides, he might not have another chance to show it in the coming months. “Then I suppose you’re lucky I’m immune to it and I do things for you because I truly want to.” He can’t help but smile when Eichi’s eyes snap open and regard him with curiosity. “Yes, I’ll view the moon with you this evening.”

* * *

 “It figures you’d get the best view for this, hm? A perfect view of the full moon with nobody except us two.”

Keito tucks his legs under him and looks up. The leaves obscure the sky straight above him, but through the gaps he glances a few stars shining bright over the open space. Wind rustles the leaves and sends a chill up his spine, but he ignores it in favor of lifting an insulated mug to his lips. The coffee is still hot and he sighs in satisfaction at the warmth running through him now. The wind be damned by the power of caffeine. He has something important to attend to this evening.

He sets the insulated mug down and leans back until his butt hits the dirt. With a small grunt of effort, he shifts until he’s sitting in a more comfortable position, pulling the blanket he placed beside the mug up and over his shoulders. “I’d ask if you wanted to share, but you’d tell me you’re fine, wouldn’t you? You always insist you’re fine when you aren’t.”

As expected, there’s no answer. He doesn’t mind terribly; Eichi never has much to say these days. At least, not when Keito is awake he doesn’t. The back of his head begins to ache and he lets out a shaky exhale. He doesn’t get much sleep these days when he thinks about it. Work at the shrine keeps him busy most of the day, not to mention finally severing his contract as an idol is a bureaucratic nightmare that occupies his downtime. At night the stress keeps him up, pacing back and forth until he gives in to the temptation of another all-nighter and cracks open an energy drink. On the nights he does sleep…

“You weren’t kidding about that, were you?” A shadow moves in the corner of his eye and he smiles, but it’s tinted with pain and comes out more strained than he had hoped it would. “That you? Are you keeping that ridiculous, impossible promise of yours?” Deep in his memories an echoed, playful threat to follow him forever, even from the afterlife, sounds. It’s more strangled and unfamiliar than it ever has been, but he can venture a good guess why.

When was the last time he heard Eichi speak? If he presses himself and thinks hard, he comes up with the night on the roof of the hospital. It took the help of a stubborn doctor (“Our patients need bedrest, sir, not a vacation to the roof. Especially not Tenshouin-san!”) but eventually they lugged Eichi’s weakening body up the several flights of stairs until they reached the roof. Before she left them alone, twirling a strand of her hair as she spoke, the doctor insisted that they stay on the other side of the stairwell covering so that they don’t disturb any late-night helicopter flights with critical patients. Once they finally got situated under the hospital blanket the doctor leant them, Eichi whispered, “It’s much more beautiful than I expected. Isn’t it, Keito?”

“I suppose.” To this day, Keito curses how unenthusiastic he was. Eichi’s last wish and he couldn’t be more forthcoming with his emotions? He couldn’t come off the wave of tension he’s been riding for years and relax with his most treasured friend? It figures. The last time he had been able to fully let go and relax was back in school, laying on the floor with Robin Hood and the rest of his club, playing with its kittens as they all shared snacks. He hasn’t spoken to Tsukinaga since graduation. On occasion, escorting Eichi, he’s caught glimpses of Fushimi and Suou, as well as Himemiya. He never approached them though. All speaking to them would do is bring to life a time where Eichi could stand on his own, walk on his own, dance and sing and shine on his own without the sterile glare of fluorescent lights.

He can’t do any of that anymore. Cannot stand, or walk, or dance and sing and shine. All he can do is sleep restlessly. No way would Eichi take death lying down complacently. He would find a way to sweet talk death into letting him wander Earth until Keito finds himself ready to join him. That’s the threat he made once, wasn’t it? _“I’ll haunt you from wherever it is this stupid curse of a sickness takes me so that we can always gaze upon the same moon.”_

“I realize now that isn’t what you meant.” Keito’s head drops, too heavy to hold up anymore. The shine of the moon makes his eyes hurt (it’s been four days since he last slept more than a few hours), and the guilt in his gut over being so dismissive of Eichi’s true last wish makes him want to dig six feet through dirt and haul the coffin to the surface so that he can try again. This time, he can make this hidden last wish of Eichi’s come true. He always took things too much at face value. He didn’t ever think of what Eichi could have truly been wanting when he asked to have a moon-gazing date with him on the hospital roof on his final night.

He lifts his head despite the heaviness and stares at the kanji on the gravestone. His lips ghost the words, too painful to verbalize. Why verbalize what has already come and gone? Nothing good comes of waking the dead. Then again, Eichi never would have went to sleep so easily. Maybe this time, it’s okay.

“Tenshouin Eichi.” His heart constricts and the backs of his eyes begin to sting but he forces what could be the most genuine smile of his life. “Thank you for sharing the view with me.”

The wind blows through Keito’s hair, and on its wings it brings a long-dead whisper. _“Thank you for being my dear friend.”_

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in commissioning me, please DM me on Twitter (@aphaustria) or send me an ask on Tumblr (subakasa). I need funds for Tsukasa.


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